Seafood sorter

ABSTRACT

A mass of seafood chuncks is placed on a chute having a reciprocating spreader which spreads the mass on the chute and hooks on a drum are moved through the lower edge of the mass to hook individual chunks and then drop the chunks onto a conveyor, a rotary brush assisting to strip the chunks from the hooks.

1 51 Oct. 10,1972

United States Patent Harper [54] SEAFOOD SORTER 2,787,362 4/1957Hill........................198/178X [72] Inventor: Foye Harper P'Q Box352, 3,392,881 7/1968 Ericksen......... ....22l/2l3 Newberg, Oreg. 97132Aug. 24, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 66,451

Primary Examiner-Richard A. Schacher [22] Filed:

Att0rneyBuckhom, Blore, Klarquist and Sparkman ABSTRACT A mass ofseafood chuncks is placed on a chute hav- 52 US. Cl....................209/109, 198/178, 221/214 mg a reciprocating Spreaderwhich spreads me mass [51] Int. 3/04 on the chute and hooks on a drumare moved through Field of Search 309/78 109; 198/178, 177; the loweredge of the mass to hook individual chunks 221/213, 214 and then dropthe chunks onto a conveyor, a rotary brush assisting to strip the chunksfrom the hooks.

3 Chain, 4 Ih-awing Figures References Cited UNiTED STATES PATENTS30,144 Kersey.................,.....22l/21 4 PATENTEDIJBI 10 1912 3.696.925

FOYE H. HARPER INVENTOR BUCKHORN, BLORE, KLARQUIST & SPARKMAN ATTORNEYSSEAFOOD SORTER DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a seafoodsorter and more particularly to a sorter for separating wet, stickychunks of seafood from a pile of such chunks.

An object of the invention is to provide a seafood sorter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sorter for separatingwet, sticky chunks of seafood from a-pile of such chunks.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sorter adapted to hookinto individual seafood chunks and separate them from a pile of suchchunks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sorter having a drumwith peripheral hooks having tong portions which are generally parallelto the periphery of the drum, are spaced from the drum a distance lessthan the thickness of a seafood chunk to be separated from a mass ofsuch chunks and are of alength less than the thickness of the chunks.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for pullingwet, sticky seafood chunks one at a time form a mass of such chunks.

The invention provides a seafood sorter including hook-like impalingmembers each adapted to hook into an edge portion of a wet, stickyseafood chunk such as, for example, a shrimp or an oyster, of a pile ofsuch chunks and pull the chunks from the pile. Preferably, each impalingmember has a tine portion carried by a drum in a position parallel tothe periphery of the drum, of a length less than the average thicknessof the seafood chunks to be separated and spaced from the drum adistance less than that thickness.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a seafood sorterforming one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the seafood sorter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken alongline 44 of FIG. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein aseafood sorter forming one embodiment of the invention and including achute on which are placed seafood chunks 12, which may be whole, peeledshrimp, shucked oysters, fish fillets or the like. A separating drum 14having hooks 16 rotates and each hook hooks into one of the chunks andcarries it over the top of the drum and past a brush l8 and drops it ona belt-type conveyor 20. A spreader comb 22 is reciprocated slowly onthe chute 10 by a fluid pressure cylinder drive 24 to spread the pile ofchunks over the entire width of the chute between sides 26 of the chute.Teeth or fingers 28 of the comb 22 are narrower than support fingers 30of the chute and reciprocate between the edges of the fingers 30, thefingers 30 being positioned on opposite sides of slots 32 providingclearance for the hooks 16.

The hooks 16 have very sharp points 40 and top sharpening flats 42 whichare concentric to axle portion 44 of the drum to permit sharpening ofthe points 40 by turning the drum and holding an abrading member so thatit is engaged by the flats as the latter are moved past the abradingmember. The hooks have circumferentially impaling portions substantiallyconcentric to the periphery of the drum 46 and also have substantiallyradial shank portions 48 and roughened anchor portions 50 secured inholes 52 by cast epoxy resin anchor portions 54. For best results theshank portions are of a length such that the impaling portions are aboutfive-sixteenths inch which is slightly less than the average thicknessof the portions of the chunks which are impaled, from the periphery ofthe drum and the distance from the points 40 of each hook is aboutonehalf inch 'which is slightly less than the average thickness of theportions of the chunks which are impaled from the projected centerlineof the shank portion 50. The hooks, the drum, the chute and the combpreferably are of stainless steel, and the bristles of the brush arepreferably of highly smooth plastic material such as, for example,nylon.

The axle portion 44 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is journaled in bearings 60 carriedby frame 62, and an axle 64 of the brush 18 is journaled in bearings 66carried by the frame 62. Chain and sprocket drives 68 and 70 drive thedrum and the brush in inrunning directions and at speeds such that theouter circumference of the brush is faster than the hooks so that thebrush strips the chunks 12 off the hooks and drops the chunks onto theconveyor 20. The hooks are so staggered and the speeds of the conveyorand the drum are such that the chunks drop individually onto clearspaces on the conveyor. That is, the chunks on the conveyor are spacedfrom each other. The conveyor conveys the separated chunks to cryogenicfreezing apparatus where the moist chunks are individually frozen.

The periphery of the drum 14 is smooth so that the wet, sticky chunks 12will slide thereon, and the weight of the chunks is enough to preventthe drum by itself, without the hooks 16, from lifting the chunks on uparound the drum. The hooks embed themselves in the individual chunks andpull the chunks out individually from the pile or mass. The hooks,because of their spacing from the drum and the length of the impalingportions, are each usually fully embedded in a single one of the chunks.The chute, with the comb, feeds the pile of chunks in a spread outcondition to the bite of the chute and the lower right-hand portion ofthe drum.

What is claimed is:

1. In a seafood sorter,

support means for supporting a pile of seafood chunks,

hook means,

carrier means comprising a rotary drum for moving the hook means throughthe pile to impale one of the chunks and pull that chunk from the pile,

the drum being rotatable on a horizontal axis and the support meanscomprising a feed chute forming an acute angle with the lower side ofthe drum,

the carrier means including means for rotating the drum in a directionin which the hook means is moved upwardly past the feed chute,

and a spreader member adapted to spread the pile over the portion of thechute adjacent the drum.

2. The seafood sorter of claim 1 wherein the chute has clearance slotsto permit passage of the hook means therethrough and the spreader memberis comb-like with teeth movable over the portions of the chute betweenthe slots.

through the *pile to impale one of the chunks and pull that chunk fromthe pile,

means for spreading the chunks in the pile,

conveyor means,

and stripper means for moving the chunks from the hooks onto theconveyor means after the chunk has been pulled from the pile.

1. In a seafood sorter, support means for supporting a pile of seafoodchunks, hook means, carrier means comprising a rotary drum for movingthe hook means through the pile to impale one of the chunks and pullthat chunk from the pile, the drum being rotatable on a horizontal axisand the support means comprising a feed chute forming an acute anglewith the lower side of the drum, the carrier means including means forrotating the drum in a direction in which the hook means is movedupwardly past the feed chute, and a spreader member adapted to spreadthe pile over the portion of the chute adjacent the drum.
 2. The seafoodsorter of claim 1 wherein the chute has clearance slots to permitpassage of the hook means therethrough and the spreader member iscomb-like with teeth movable over the portions of the chute between theslots.
 3. In a seafood sorter, support means for supporting a pile ofseafood chunks, an elongated drum mounted for rotation on a horizontalaxis, a plurality of hooks mounted on and spaced along and around thedrum, means for rotating the drum to move the hooks through the pile toimpale one of the chunks and pull that chunk from the pile, means forspreading the chunks in the pile, conveyor means, and stripper means formoving the chunks from the hooks onto the conveyor means after the chunkhas been pulled from the pile.